Excel at Value-Based Selling in 4 Steps
Value-based selling focuses on ensuring the buyer is benefiting from the entire sales process. The key to executing this sales approach is to sell the value of your product/service instead of the product itself. Sounds a bit strange, right? But think about it like this. People don’t want to buy what you’re selling, they want to buy why you’re selling it.
For example, buyers don’t want to hear you drone on about the latest features of your product. Instead, they want to know how your product impacts their bottom line, saves time, or solves a specific challenge they’re facing. Keep in mind that 74% of buyers end up choosing the company that was the first to add value. So the question is, how can you sell value to your buyers to convert them into customers? Read on to learn the 4 steps to excel at value-based selling.
1. Do your research on your buyer to identify pain points and needs
HubSpot states, “the goal of value-based selling is to close the sale by putting the needs of your prospect first.” To do this effectively, you need to first understand your buyer, their background, use case, and pain points. Prior to the first sales interaction, you may want to brush up on the following:
The buyer’s current role and their daily tasks
It’s important to understand a buyer’s career history and current role. Through a simple search through either their company website or via their LinkedIn profile, you’ll be able to determine if the buyer:
- Is new to this role
- Could benefit from learning from you
- Has made purchasing decisions before or has been in similar roles
- Has experience in your area of business
- Is struggling with a particular pain point
With all of this information to backup your sales initiatives, you can better serve the buyer with relevant and useful information that will showcase the value your product/service brings to their day-to-day life.
Any content the buyer shares on social media
Check out the buyer’s public LinkedIn or Twitter profile to see what they’ve been sharing or talking about recently. This will provide you with great insight into the issues that are currently important to them.
Their contact listing in your CRM
One of the most important ways to understand your buyer is to leverage the insights you currently have based on their profile in your CRM or sales enablement platform. With the right technology, you’ll be able to access data pinpointing which pieces of collateral they clicked on prior to talking to sales. Based on these insights, you can make data-driven decisions as to which content will be best to share with them to move them along their buyer’s journey.
2. Showcase value by fostering a dynamic dialogue
Dynamic sales interactions enable you to adapt sales content to meet the buyer’s needs in real-time. With the right technology, you can time your content to match the buyer’s needs and efficiently respond to their questions. Having the right sales enablement platform is vital to drive value-based selling. With the right technology, you can leverage interactive sales presentations to foster healthy dialogue between you and the buyer. With interactive presentations, you’re enabling the buyer to drive the conversation by steering the presentation where they wish.
For instance, let’s say your buyer is interested in term life insurance plans and has little interest in whole life plans. So what happens when you have an entire presentation featuring all types of insurance plans? With the proper tech, you can easily navigate through the interactive presentation to the slides that address their questions in mere seconds. By providing the most relevant slides and content, you’re able to answer show value by adequately answering any questions the buyer may have.
To visualize how interactive presentations work, request a demo of Prezentor.
3. Teach, don’t sell
The next step to value-based selling is to educate your buyer instead of hard-selling them. It’s important to take an education-first approach. To do this effectively, you need to build trust with your buyer by becoming their go-to resource for information. Through this process, you’re offering value — insights and information — regarding the buyer’s pain points and your knowledge of the possible solutions. Thus, once the buyer is ready to make a purchase, your offer has a greater chance of beating out competitors since there is value in the trust built between you and the buyer.
For example, say you’re an insurance provider. Instead of immediately hitting a buyer with a sales pitch upon the first point of contact, try asking them what their challenges are. From here, you are in a position to educate the buyer (through interactive presentations and content) on the possible solutions that will lead to better outcomes. Now, you’ve already demonstrated value to the buyer and you don’t have to oversell your product.
4. Value-based selling calls for personalized sales
interactions
Value-based selling doesn’t have to be difficult, it just needs to be personal. While personalizing sales content and presentations is key to keeping the buyer engaged, it’s also important to communicate with them in a personalized way. For example, speak as if you’re talking to a friend to keep the conversation light and upbeat. Also, be sure to chat up a bit of small talk. You never know, you might just find that you have interests in common that further build trust between you and the buyer.
Additionally, ask open-ended questions to not only get the most out of your buyer but to formulate your responses to provide the most valuable information. For instance, asking a question that warrants an explanation instead of just “yes” or “no” will force the buyer to give you greater insight into their day-to-day life. From here, you can leverage this information to better understand and serve their needs by sharing relevant content.
Final thoughts
Value-based selling is an imperative aspect of effective sales. Buyers want to be wowed by the efficiency your product or service delivers to their lives. What they don’t want is to listen to you explain each intricate feature of the product (unless they specifically ask!). It’s time to provide your buyers with valuable information and interactions so that you can drive deals and revenue.
Prezentor can help. Request a demo to begin adding value to each of your buyer interactions.